New episode in the battle for the presidency of the French Tennis Federation (FFT), whose election should be postponed to April 2021. The opposition list led by Gilles Moretton, "Together for another tennis", records two new rallies.
Already supported by Arnaud Clément and Amélie Oudéa-Castera, as well as by the presidents of the four big leagues of Grand Est, Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Paca and Occitanie, Gilles Moretton, president of the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes league ( ARA), can now count on François Jauffret, 78, president of the Ile-de-France League, and Eric Deblicker, 68, advisor to the current president for the high level.
"At the FFT, we are in the presence of a man who leads alone"
“I have the feeling that I haven't used much,” says Eric Deblicker. You have to show that you have confidence in the people placed in charge, that is called delegating , and I did not have that feeling. I was not in tune with the sports policy put in place. I said it and, pretty quickly, I took a step back. "At the FFT, we are in the presence of a man who heads alone (Editor's note: President Bernard Giudicelli) ," said François Jauffret. There is not enough consultation. I am leaving with Gilles Moretton because I think that he is today most able to restructure all of French tennis. "
The choice of gathering. These are the first words of the program of Gilles Moretton, candidate for the presidency of the FFT to discover here https://t.co/IUH7vw0SYz
A program built in close collaboration with the clubs and the main players in tennis. #PourunOutreTennis pic.twitter.com/7iKIbPcFfS
Deblicker, former pro, former Davis Cup captain and former coach of many of the best French players (Richard Gasquet, Thierry Tulasne, Henri Leconte, Arnaud Boetsch, Sébastien Grosjean) thinks that the FFT is on the wrong track. "We had very good results with Tsonga, Monfils, Gasquet and Simon, without winning a Grand Slam," advises Deblicker. For ten years, we have had Pouille, Paire and Humbert… I think we can do better. "
What course does it offer? “The rigor consists in not changing coaches every six months, it is the role of DTN to ensure that. Federer has worked with Séverin Lüthi for twenty years, Djokovic with Vajda. Nadal had his uncle, then Moya. And then, I believe in collective work, in internships between players. To work alone in his region, a player may have to lack benchmarks. "
"We don't go enough to meet clubs"
Deblicker invites us to draw inspiration from new or proven methods: “Luigi Borfiga (Editor's note: French coach long in charge at Insep, hired by Tennis Canada in 2006) duplicated in Canada what was done in France fifteen years ago, with the results we know. We also need to train new coaches, as does Arsène Wenger in Fifa. Federer once said that we come out of great players but make them little stars before they become champions. It inspires me that the focus must be on the mind. "
A massive support and recovery plan for the ecosystem of French tennis and associated disciplines has been adopted by the FFT Executive Committee and will be operational from June 3.
More information ➡️ https://t.co/FbgC5xRdoQ pic.twitter.com/GY5FQehalo
For his part, François Jauffret is concerned about the health of the clubs. “Events crush the entire federal government today. We had announced 1.5 million licensees at the end of the mandate and we are under a million. In my opinion, events do not bring young people or adults to our clubs. I even said once to the president that the FFT was the federation of internationals from France and that there was only a small federation elsewhere… We don't go enough to meet the clubs, even if that may seem paradoxical at a time when the FFT is implementing a monumental recovery plan for them (Editor's note: € 21 million out of a global plan of € 35 million to offset the effects of the health crisis) . Today, digitalization is a good thing but human contact cannot be replaced and we have neglected it. "
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Jauffret also pinpoints governance, which he considers too autocratic: "The recovery plan towards the clubs, who could be against it?" But it was decided with a snap of the fingers, to the point that people were flabbergasted. In addition, I myself voted for the postponement of Roland-Garros to September. What we did not know was that there was no prior consultation with international bodies, which led to an aftermath of an outcry. "
